How I Lost 5 Pounds in an Hour (Sweat Test)

Performing long endurance training days in New Orleans' summer heat can be brutal. The heat and humidity will get you; probably more than once! I sweat excessively and during my 2013 Ironman Florida training, I dehydrated often near the end of many 5 to 6 hour training rides when heat indexes were in the mid-90's or higher (degree F). During the 2013 training, I increased my water intake and intake of SaltSticks (electrolytes) as temperatures and humidity rose. Even then, I still struggled to totally figure it all out before race day. 

Recently during three consecutive weekends, I started dehydrating much earlier than last year and, oddly, bonking at or shortly after the 3-hour mark during my long bike rides. My 2014 Ironman training plan is significantly harder than last year so the nutrition and hydration plan I previously used was far from adequate. I was sweating significantly more and burning far more calories due to the increased effort. Plus, August and September are the two hottest months here in New Orleans. This August has not been particularly friendly to me! :)

I was talking to a friend and fellow triathlete, Andre, who mentioned I should do a sweat test to see if I am drinking enough during my rides and runs. I will discuss how to perform a sweat test but first I wanted to elaborate on my test results!

Running Through My Head...

Recently, I was talking with two fellow triathletes separately about running techniques. Both are engineers like me so we tend to geek out on numbers and we tend to dwell on proper techniques. I had started writing this post a while ago but the two conversations helped me get this one done since I only needed to do some minor tweaks. After several of my morning runs, I would add notes of what was going through my head during the run. I do self-checks as I'm running on the items discussed below; that is, if I don't "zone out".

Side note: Anyone that runs with me knows how easily I tend to zone out! I usually don't hear or feel a thing since my mind is floating somewhere out in space - a runner's high I suppose. Perfect example: during a run on the neutral ground along St. Charles Avenue here in New Orleans, I was running head-on towards a street car that I did not even hear or see! Yes, I was playing chicken with the street car! The street car had to stop and wait for me to get out of the way. My run group had been yelling at me probably 4 or 5 times to get out of the way! As I moved out of the way, I waved to the driver who did NOT have a smile on his face! :) I tend to zone out a lot on the run and long bike rides so I'm always wearing my RoadID, "It's who I am"! For those of you not from New Orleans, the neutral ground is simply a median. 

The list below is how I understand things and I applied them to my running. The list is not in any order of importance because, to me, they are all important! Hopefully, all of the info is 100% correct. I'm not an expert by any means so just go do web searches or even go look up YouTube videos to get info from people far smarter than me!